See Appendix B, p 87.

two dynamic functions can be shown in schematic form, the solid lines indicating the primary function and the dotted lines the secondary function:

Dha Sa Pa Re S a Sa + Pa Drones S a Re G a Ma Pa Dha Sa Sa + Ma Drones

In recent times the third (Ga) is often added as a supplementary drone to the Sa + Pa drones1 resulting in a further modification of the consonance-dissonance pattern o f the notes. Here the dynamic function of the notes is similar to th at in Western classical harm ony where the m ajor triad (Sa, Ga, Pa) is implied and may, for short periods, even function as a drone. The following diagram shows the con­ sonance-dissonance pattern with these three drones, the Sa drone being twice as prom inent as the others. The dotted lines once again show Helmholtz’s original trace:

S a Reb Re Gab Ga Ma Pa Dhab Dha .Nib Ni Sa INDIAN

NOTATION

C Db D E b E F G Ab A B b B C PURE

INTERVALS

TEMPERED INTERVALS

Consonance-Dissonance with three Drones, Sa, Pa and G a; Sa twice as prominent as Pa and Ga 1 The principal advocate of this drone accompaniment is Ustdd Vilayat Khan who also uses other drone combinations to suit particular ra^s. Some of these are described in Appendix Bon pp. 187,188 and can be heard on the accompanying record.

The Effect o f Drones

The principal modification resulting from the introduction of th eG a drone is th at the Ga is much more consonant than the M a which now has a greatly increased secondary dynamic function in that it leads either to the G a or the Pa.

We have been discussing the inherent dynamic function of notes which is not derived from their pitch but from their relationship to the ground-note and to the other notes sounded in the drone. There are, however, other factors which also have a very great influence on the function of a note. These arise from the context in which the note is heard and are connected with melody, rhythm and metre. While a full treatm ent of these factors is beyond the scope of this work, a brief examination of the dynamic function induced by the melodic context is contained in Chapter VIII, pp. 17 Iff).

A fundamental question arises out of the foregoing discussion. How can we recognise and appreciate a rag when the dynamic function o f its notes is variable ? The only explanation which appears to fit this condition is th at the mind has con­ siderable latitude in the comprehension of musical intervals. This is borne out by the fact that in Indian music the precise intonation of notes also varies from performer to performer, from recital to recital and even within the same recital,1 and yet the rag being performed is clearly recognised by the audience. Perhaps the best way to understand this is in terms o f an analogy. Let us imagine that the consonance- dissonance graphs represent the terrain on which we are walking. As we walk down from a peak into a valley, at a certain point we suddenly recognise the valley and can say this is D ha or this is Ga. The point of lowest potential energy o f this valley is at its bottom, but recognition dawns somewhere on the slopes. The analogy m ust now be carried into three dimensions if we are to convey the dynamic function of the notes, as the particular valley we are concerned with may be located in the mountains, and a river in this valley will run into a lower valley and continue downwards until it finally reaches the ocean. In two dimensions the bottom of the valley appears to be a state of minimum potential energy; in three dimensions, however, it is seen that the bottom of the valley is itself sloping towards a lower valley. The incline is less steep in the valley than on the slopes, thus the kinetic energy, which can be correlated with the dynamic function o f the notes, is lower in the valley than on the slopes. Would a musician necessarily choose the point of lowest kinetic energy when he wishes to convey suspense, anticipation or tension ? It has been noted th at the leading note (Ni) is often sharper in ascent than in descent. Is not this sharpening of the Ni a subconscious device to increase its dynamic value so that it more urgently demands resolution on the tonic (Sa) ?

To summarise, music is concerned, from one viewpoint, with states of tension and release, with contrasts o f energy levels. Where the musician wishes to convey the feeling'of relief from tension, he m ust seek the bottom of the valley, and particularly those valleys which have a low potential energy level, in other words the more consonant notes. When he aims to convey tension, however, he would not necessarily

1 Ibid., p. 130-1. There is reason to believe that the same occurs in Western music played on non-keyboard instruments or sung, despite its basis of equal temperament.

seek the bottom of the valley of the less consonant notes. Yet he cannot stray too far up the slope, else the note would sound disturbingly out of tune.

While the drone affects the dynamic function of notes, this is by no means its only influence in Indian music. Generally the drone is taken so much for granted and is so much part of the music that the exact nature of its influence is difficult to perceive. Even on the infrequent informal occasions when music is sometimes performed with­ out a drone, it is nevertheless implied, and it is likely that the memory of the drone compensates, to some extent, for its physical absence. However, extraordinary occurrences often enable one to have an insight into normal events. F o r instance, on a recording by Ustad Bismillah K han1 playing on the shahna'i, one o f the drone

shalmd’is suddenly introduces the third (Ga) as a subsidiary drone note. The result is

th at the melodic improvisations gravitate to this point and one clearly hears the modal series beginning on G a rather than the original scale (based on Sa). This is not a transposition, merely a temporary shift of the point of reference and a corresponding shift of tessitura. It is, of course, an unconventional practice, but for this very reason we can clearly appreciate the result. After a short while the G a drone ceases and the melodic line returns to its original framework.

Another interesting occurrence can be heard on a record of Ustad Bundu K han playing the sarangi2 Here he plays the pentatonic rag M dlkos (Mdlkaus) in which the secondary drone is usually the fourth (Ma). On this occasion the primary Sa drone is abandoned entirely and only the secondary M a drone is played; on analysis, the proper scale of the rag (Ex. 23a) appears to be inverted so that the M a now becomes its ground-note (Ex. 23b):

Ex. 23. rag Mdlkos

(a) (b)

M a

drones ' drone

There is, nevertheless, no difficulty in recognising that it is rag M dlkos which is being performed. This can only be explained if we acknowledge th at the series of notes in Ex. 23b, the Ma-inversion provoked by the secondary drone (Ma), is always implicit in this rag.

These two examples suggest the following conclusions: first, th at the secondary drone may become the temporary ground-note of the rag, particularly when it is brought forward as it was in the first example by its sudden introduction; and secondly, th at the modal sequence starting on the secondary drone is also registered in the mind of the listener, whether overtly realised or not, and is an essential aspect o f any rag.

1 H.M.V. N 94755 (78 r.p.m.), side entitled Kajn. 2 H.M.V. HT 83 (78 r.p.m.).

The Effect o f Drones

It may be argued, with some justification, that these conclusions need not apply when Pa occurs as the secondary drone since there is a basic acoustic difference between M a and Pa in this context. Let us go into this m atter in some detail.

Analysis of musical tones reveals that no tone produced on a musical instrument is pure, but is composed of a fundamental and, in addition, a number of overtones which are generally much softer than the fundamental. These overtones are explained by the fact th at a string on an instrument or a vibrating column of air in a pipe vibrates not only in its full length but also in proportions o f its length—half, third, quarter, etc. In theory this overtone series1 is limitless, but, as each successive over­ tone is softer (except where one of these is amplified by the shape of the resonating chamber o f a particular instrument), for all practical purposes only the first few over­ tones are musically significant.

We should note that the perfect fourth, M a, is not one o f the notes which is signi­ ficant in this series.

Ex. 24. Sa Pa Ga Fundamental 2nd 1st 3rd 4th 5th Overtones

When the Sa drone is sounded, the overtone series is evoked and the first few overtones are often clearly audible. The second overtone, Pa, is usually quite pro­ minent, especially on the tambura, and is thus always present in Indian music as a secondary drone whether or not it is actually sounded. To a lesser extent this also holds for the fourth overtone, Ga. The addition o f Ga, therefore, as an extra drone note is an extension o f a natural phenomenon and n o t a radical development to be associated with Western influence. M a, however, although consonant to Sa, is alien to the overtone series and is not evoked in the sound o f the Sa. On the other hand, Sa is evoked in the sound of M a since Sa is a fifth above M a and is its second over­ tone. For this reason it can be argued that the tendency to view M a as the ground- note has a ‘natural’ basis. The same cannot be said for Pa as Sa is not p art o f its overtone series. This thesis can be expressed in the following way: If two drones either a fourth or a fifth apart are sounded, one o f these will ‘naturally’ sound like the primary drone. It is not always the lower o f the two which will sound primary, but the one which initiates the overtone series to which the other note (or one of its octaves) belongs. By amplifying a prom inent overtone the secondary drone lends support to the primary and intensifies its ‘primary’ character.

1 A second system of nomenclature refers to these as the harmonic series, in which the funda­ mental is the first. The first overtone, i.e. Sa, is the second harmonic; the second overtone, i.e. Pa, is the third harmonic, etc. One advantage of this system is that it permits easy calculation of the intervals between harmonics; for instance, the interval between the ninth harmonic (the eighth overtone) and the eighth harmonic (the seventh overtone) is nine: eight.

Nevertheless, there are instances when Pa also becomes, in effect, the ground-note, evoking its own modal series. Notable examples can be found in the rags Pancam se

Pilu (lit. Pilu from Pa) and Pancam se Gara (Gam from Pa) where the parent rags Pilu and Gara are virtually transposed to the secondary drone, Pa.1

T hat the fifth should evoke its own modal series is not peculiar to Indian music, for the Western Ecclesiastical inodes show, in their plagal forms, a similar tendency. This is not exactly the same phenomenon as we have been speaking of in Indian music, for in the plagal modes the finalis, which we might equate with the Sa, remained the same as in its authentic mode, and only the ambitus, the range of the octave, was shifted a fourth lower, extending from Pa to Pa.

It would therefore appear that rags have a certain measure of dual or even multiple modality. W hen a secondary drone is brought to the fore, as, for instance, when it serves as the pivot note in a series o f melodic phrases, it serves temporarily as the ground-note of the rag and evokes its own particular modal series, which may not, however, be appreciated on a conscious level. In theory this applies to any terminal note but is less significant unless the terminal note is also amplified in the drone.2 Naturally, the authentic series initiated by the Sa is predominant and the melodic line is inevitably drawn back to this base.

If we accept this hypothesis, it is easy to see how the six primary thats, Kalya# to

Bhairvi, might have evolved without the conscious process o f beginning each one

on the successive degrees of a primary scale, as was apparently the case in ancient Indian music theory. From each that two modal series are brought to the fore by the two commonly used secondary drones, Pa and Ma. Each of these series can become a scale in its own right when the primary and secondary drones are interchanged, as shown in the table on the following page.

By this process, too, we arrive at the B mode which is not one of the Indian thats, but whose influence can be seen in the rag Bhairvi, where the diminished fifth is sometimes used in descent (see Ex. 14b, p. 50).

It will be noticed that we cannot continue this process beyond the B mode because Pa would be flat here and there could be no secondary Pa drone. In the same way, retracing our steps, beginning each successive scale on the M a o f the previous scale, we finally arrive at Kalya#. Here again the process cannot be continued further because Kalya# has a Mas, and thus a secondary Mati drone is not feasible.

We have been seeking musical justification for some of the theories expressed in the previous chapter, and, in particular, a practical justification for the Circle o f Thats. We can now explain how the six primary thats might have arisen out of musical practice, but we have also seen that we can go no further by this process and the

1 One of the characteristic features of the rags Pilu and Gara is the use of both forms of Ga (III)